Sunday, April 24, 2016

Book Review - Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane by Paul Thomas Murphy

A haunting tale of a woman who was found brutalized beyond recognition and the journey of finding her killer. The woman was found on the verge of death, crying out "let me die" before slipping into a coma and perishing five days later. However, her identity is unknown along with the motive and her murderer. After top lead detective, John Mulvany was on the case, they were able to establish her identity. Jane Maria Clouson was a maid for the prestigious Pook family and she was also two months pregnant by the younger son, Edmund. The tantalizing tale takes readers into the vivid investigation of the violent murder of one girl of London's working class.

The novel uses many primary sources to piece together vivid portrayal of the murder investigation. While the tale was elegantly woven, I personally lost interest after a few chapters. The book became tedious and boring to read. Perhaps, I missed subtle references but the author bought up a couple of unrelated stories that seemed to have no correlation to the Pretty Jane trial. The author also at the end sum up the evidence made present during the trial on why they believe the suspect was killer. For all I cared, it could have been Santa Claus but it wouldn't have made this book more interesting.